Camera modules have been incorporated into a variety of consumer electronics devices, including smart phones, mobile audio players, personal digital assistants, and both portable and desktop computers. A typical camera module includes an optical system used to collect and transmit light from an imaged scene to an image sensor. The optical system generally includes at least one lens associated with one aperture. The lens collects and transmits light to the image sensor. The aperture limits the light collected and transmitted by the lens, and is therefore termed the stop aperture, or alternatively, the entrance pupil aperture. The image sensor may be part of, or mounted to, a microelectronic or integrated circuit die, which is surrounded by a ceramic substrate. The ceramic substrate may include interconnects for providing electrical connections between the die and other components (e.g. a flex circuit). A cover glass to protect the image sensor may further be mounted to the ceramic substrate, over the image sensor.
Each of these components, however, are typically singulated elements that require a long assembly process and complex handling procedures. For example, in some cases, assembly includes positioning one or more image sensor dies (positioned within the ceramic substrate) within a carrier boat. The carrier boat may include a top layer and bottom layer and openings within which the image sensor dies are aligned and then sandwiched between the top and bottom layers so that they remain stationary during the remaining assembly steps (e.g. flip chip bonding, under fill, glass attach, etc). Properly positioning the sensor dies within the carrier boat openings and subsequent assembly steps can be very difficult and time consuming. In addition, the use of a ceramic substrate around each of the image sensor dies to provide electrical connections to and from the die can undesirably increase the overall x, y and z dimensions of the camera module because, for example, space must be provided between the die and the substrate to accommodate electrical connections (e.g. solder bumps) and underfill mounting materials (e.g. a glue) used to mount the substrate to the die.